5 Simple Steps to Master Project Closure

Critical steps you can’t afford to miss!

Knowing how to close a project properly is critical to its success. It’s not just about the current project though – following best practices for project closure will also help you identify lessons that will serve you on future projects.

Whether you’re managing a small project or a large one, you’re not going to want to skip these steps.

Closure step one – finalization and hand off

Before you can officially close your project, you need to finalize the project requirements. That means bringing out the project charter that everyone signed off on, and reviewing it with your sponsor, steering committee, and the end user who is receiving the deliverable.

You want to:

• double check you’ve covered everything set out in the charter
• review testing results to see if everything aligns with the project requirements 
• go over training plans to ensure the end results are sustainable
• get sign-off that the project is officially completed

Once all these boxes are checked, you can officially hand over the project deliverables. 

More project closure steps

There are four more critical steps involved in wrapping a project up properly and professionally. To help you understand them all, I put together a video that explains how to:

• ensure the end user is comfortable with the project deliverable
• review your entire project in a way that supports future success
• acknowledge your team’s efforts and wrap things up in a positive fashion
• properly archive all your project documents

Follow me over to YouTube for the full low-down on masterfully closing a project.

If you want more step-by-step guides on all things project management, check out my SLAY Project Management online course where I take you through all the steps of successfully managing a project – including documentation – from start to close. You’ll get every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to use them.

Adriana Girdler, PMP | Creator of Slay Project Management™

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